Patents Examined by Emily P Pham
  • Patent number: 11711032
    Abstract: A vibration-type actuator includes a vibrator, a contact body, a pressure member, a holding member, and a base. The vibrator has an elastic member and an electro-mechanical energy conversion element fixed to the elastic member. The contact body contacts the vibrator. The pressure member presses the contact body and the vibrator in a first direction. The holding member holds the vibrator and includes a support portion and at least one fitting hole portion extending in the first direction. The support portion supports the vibrator movably in the first direction. The base holds the holding member. The contact body moves relative to the vibrator in a second direction intersecting the first direction. The base includes at least one fitting protrusion portion extending in the first direction and fits in the at least one fitting hole portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 8, 2021
    Date of Patent: July 25, 2023
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Nobuyuki Kojima
  • Patent number: 11711033
    Abstract: The invention relates to a piezoelectric motor with bending travelling wave, comprising a rotary shaft (4) connected to a rotor (3), a piezoelectric element (2) attached to a vibrating stator (1), and a decoupling web (5) for attaching the vibrating stator to a mounting (7). The mounting (7) is mechanically connected to a base (9) by means of at least one deformable element (10) and at least one piezoelectric actuator (11), so that the support can be deformed angularly relative to the base in order to rotate the shaft when the vibrating stator is no longer electrically powered. The motor is particularly suitable for applications that require micrometre or nanometre accuracies, for example in positioning tools in industrial processes, precise medical robotics or optical applications.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 22, 2020
    Date of Patent: July 25, 2023
    Assignee: TELEMAQ SAS
    Inventors: Jean-Denis Sauzade, Florian Gourlay
  • Patent number: 11711031
    Abstract: A piezoelectric inertia actuator is disclosed herein, which includes an actuator body, a coupling body defining a receiver, a lock body positioned within the receiver, and a piezo body attached to the coupling body. At least one flexible frame configured to support an engaging body may extend from the piezo body. A spring blade configured to apply a preload force to the engaging body via a decoupling preload body may extend from the coupling body. A tension member may be positioned within the lock body and apply a preload force to the piezo body, thereby creating a net compressive stress therein. The piezoelectric inertia actuator may further include a piezo preload body configured to apply a reaction force to the piezo body in order to maintain the compressive stress therein. The preload applied to the piezo body may be substantially decoupled from the preload applied to the engaging body.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 15, 2020
    Date of Patent: July 25, 2023
    Assignee: MICRO-CONTROLE—SPECTRA-PHYSICS
    Inventors: Eric Durand, Joel Mendes Pereira
  • Patent number: 11705830
    Abstract: An electromechanical motor (1) comprises a stator (2) and a translator (10). The stator has two electromechanical actuators (20) having electromechanically active material (26) and means (35) for providing exciting signals. The translator is arranged between, and in driving contact with, driving portions (22) of the electromechanical actuators. The stator has a spring element (30) arranged for holding the driving portions against the translator. The electromechanical actuators are arranged for providing a vibration, which gives rise to a driving action, directed in a driving direction (X) perpendicular to the direction of the normal force, against the surface of the translator. The electromechanical motor further comprises a guiding means (50) having a circular hole (52). The translator has a cylindrically shaped guidance part (16) arranged at least partly in the circular hole. A tunable high-frequency filter comprising such a motor is also disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 21, 2020
    Date of Patent: July 18, 2023
    Assignee: ACUVI AB
    Inventor: Andreas Danell
  • Patent number: 11705824
    Abstract: A half bridge DC-DC converter device includes a primary circuit and a secondary circuit, which include separate windings that are disposed around a magnetic core. The first circuit includes two switches and a drive circuit to turn the two switches on and off in an alternating fashion. The primary circuit further includes two thermal regulating components to regulate the current at the base of the two switches over a range of operating temperatures. The regulation of base current over a range of different operating temperatures results in the half bridge converter device being efficient and maintaining a stable switching frequency over the operational temperature range.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 27, 2021
    Date of Patent: July 18, 2023
    Assignee: MURATA MANUFACTURING CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Gerald Ezekwem, Alireza Harrasi
  • Patent number: 11689121
    Abstract: There is provided a vibration wave motor that includes a plurality of pressing parts separated by slits and can prevent an intervention member from protruding from the slits. The vibration wave motor includes a vibrator, a driven body configured to be brought into pressure contact with the vibrator and to move relative to the vibrator, a pressing member configured to move together with the driven body and to bring the driven body into pressure contact with the vibrator, and an intervention member intervening between the driven body and the pressing member, and configured to be pressed together with the driven body when the pressing member brings the driven body into pressure contact with the vibrator. The pressing member includes a plurality of pressing parts that is separated by slits and presses the intervention member. The intervention member is firmly fixed to the driven body.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 2, 2020
    Date of Patent: June 27, 2023
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Kei Suefuji, Satoshi Tsuchiya
  • Patent number: 11689120
    Abstract: A control apparatus for a vibration type actuator that moves a vibrating body in which vibrations are excited by an electromechanical energy conversion element, and a contact body contacting the vibrating body relative to each other includes a generation unit configured to generate multi-phase driving signals having a phase difference applied to the electromechanical energy conversion element, and a detection unit configured to detect an actual position of a movable unit including the vibrating body or the contact body. The generation unit sets the phase difference based on a deviation of the actual position from a target position of the movable unit. The generation unit makes larger a change rate of the phase difference against the deviation from when the movable unit stops to when the movable unit starts moving as the target position changes than that after the movable unit starts moving.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 21, 2021
    Date of Patent: June 27, 2023
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Kyouhei Suzuki
  • Patent number: 11682986
    Abstract: A piezoelectric drive device includes a substrate, a convex portion coupling to the substrate and transmitting drive power to a driven member, first drive piezoelectric elements placed on the substrate and vibrating the substrate in Y directions in which the substrate and the convex portion are arranged, second drive piezoelectric elements placed on the substrate and vibrating the substrate in Z directions orthogonal to the Y directions, a reference piezoelectric element placed on the substrate, receiving the vibration in the Y directions, and outputting a detection signal, and a concave portion placed side by side with the reference piezoelectric element in the Z directions in a plan view from an X direction orthogonal to the Y directions and the Z directions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 26, 2021
    Date of Patent: June 20, 2023
    Assignee: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kiichi Kajino, Tomoaki Takahashi
  • Patent number: 11682985
    Abstract: A piezoelectric driving device includes a substrate, a plurality of piezoelectric elements disposed on the substrate, a first groove section provided between the plurality of piezoelectric elements, and a first wire provided in at least a part of a side surface and a bottom section of the first groove section.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 22, 2021
    Date of Patent: June 20, 2023
    Assignee: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Tomoaki Takahashi, Kiichi Kajino
  • Patent number: 11682955
    Abstract: A vibration module is provided, having a main axis passing through the center of the vibration module, including a fixed part and a first vibration part. The first vibration part is disposed within the fixed part. The first vibration part includes a first moving member and a first driving assembly. The first driving assembly drives the first moving member to move relative to the fixed part.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 28, 2020
    Date of Patent: June 20, 2023
    Assignee: TDK TAIWAN CORP.
    Inventors: Chao-Chang Hu, Liang-Ting Ho, Che-Wei Chang
  • Patent number: 11681316
    Abstract: Embodiments described herein present a new LDO design that eliminates the need for the sleep bias circuitry included in other systems. Further, the new LDO design can be biased with a small fraction of the operating current enabling the LDO to wake up substantially faster than previous LDO designs that include separate sleep circuitry. In some cases, the LDO can instantly (or faster than other LDOs) transition from a sleep mode to an operating mode enabling improved operation compared to prior LDOs. Furthermore, the new LDO design maintains a non-breakdown voltage across the transistors reducing the need to enter sleep mode to prevent transistors of the LDO from entering a breakdown region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 18, 2021
    Date of Patent: June 20, 2023
    Assignee: Skyworks Solutions, Inc.
    Inventor: Bo Zhou
  • Patent number: 11671012
    Abstract: A switching regulator includes a high side transistor coupled to an input voltage node. The switching regulator also includes a low side transistor coupled to the high side transistor at a switch node. An adaptive on-time control circuit is also included and is configured to cause the high side transistor to turn on for an adaptive period of time based on a ratio of an output voltage from the switching regulator to input voltage. The adaptive period of time is configured to occur responsive to a current through an inductor falling below a predetermined threshold.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 22, 2021
    Date of Patent: June 6, 2023
    Assignee: TEXAS INSTRUMENTS INCORPORATED
    Inventors: Jiancong Ruan, Runqin Tan
  • Patent number: 11664746
    Abstract: A vibration-type actuator capable of suppressing reduction in holding torque or holding force under influence of humidity. A vibration-type actuator 10 includes a vibrating body 2 and a driven body 1. The vibrating body 2 has a piezoelectric element 2c and an elastic body 2b. The driven body 1 is in contact with the vibrating body 2. The vibration-type actuator 10 moves the vibrating body 2 and the driven body 1 relatively to each other by vibration excited to the vibrating body 2. At least one of a first contact portion of the vibrating body 2 and a second contact portion of the driven body 1 includes a stainless-steel sintered body with pores and at least some of the pores are impregnated with a resin.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 15, 2019
    Date of Patent: May 30, 2023
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Hiromitsu Morita, Jun Tamai, Yasuyuki Araki
  • Patent number: 11664748
    Abstract: A drive control device 100, which controls driving of a vibration type actuator 200 including a vibrator 214 that includes a piezoelectric element 203, and a rotor 207, includes amplifier circuits 11 and 12 amplifying a power supply voltage to generate a drive voltage to be applied to the piezoelectric element 203, and a microcomputer unit 1. The microcomputer unit 1 performs a control to increase the amplitude of the drive voltage to perform acceleration from when the vibration type actuator 200 is started to when a target speed of the rotor 207 is reached, decrease the frequency of the drive voltage without changing the amplitude of the drive voltage when power supplied to the piezoelectric element 203 exceeds a first power limit P-Lim1, and increase the amplitude of the drive voltage when the power falls below a second power limit P-Lim2 during an operation of decreasing the frequency.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 15, 2021
    Date of Patent: May 30, 2023
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Akira Shimada, Akio Atsuta
  • Patent number: 11664745
    Abstract: The invention relates to an annular or hollow cylindrical ultrasonic actuator, on the end faces of which are arranged n?2 friction elements, and on the outer peripheral surface of which are arranged 2n excitation electrodes, spaced apart from one another in each case by a separating gap, each of the friction elements being arranged in the region of a separating gap, wherein, between friction elements that are adjacent with respect to the periphery of the ultrasonic actuator and are located on different end faces, two excitation electrodes are arranged such that, when the ultrasonic actuator is electrically excited, the friction elements of both end faces simultaneously perform a movement which is suitable for driving an element to be driven to rotate in the same direction. The invention further relates to an ultrasonic motor having an ultrasonic actuator of this kind and having a holding device in which the ultrasonic actuator is inserted.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 29, 2019
    Date of Patent: May 30, 2023
    Assignee: PHYSIK INSTRUMENTE (PI) GMBH & CO. KG
    Inventor: Burhanettin Koc
  • Patent number: 11664747
    Abstract: A driving circuit for driving a piezoelectric load, can include: a rechargeable power supply; a power stage circuit coupled between the rechargeable power supply and the piezoelectric load; where during a first operation interval of an operation period, the rechargeable power supply charges the piezoelectric load through the power stage circuit, such that a power supply voltage signal provided to the piezoelectric load in the first operation interval corresponds to a reference voltage in a first interval; and where during a second operation interval of the operation period, the piezoelectric load charges the rechargeable power supply through the power stage circuit, such that the power supply voltage signal in the second operation interval corresponds to the reference voltage in a second interval.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 4, 2021
    Date of Patent: May 30, 2023
    Assignee: Silergy Semiconductor Technology (Hangzhou) LTD
    Inventors: Zhiwei Xu, Chiqing Fang, Chen Zhao
  • Patent number: 11658587
    Abstract: A vibration actuator includes a vibrating body and a contact body having an annular shape. The vibrating body vibrates and includes an annular elastic body and an electro-mechanical energy conversion element. The contact body is in contact with the vibrating body and moves relative to the vibrating body. The contact body includes a base portion, a supporting portion annularly extending from the base portion in a radial direction of the annular shape of contact body, and a friction member that is on the supporting portion, is different in member from the supporting portion, and is in contact with the vibrating body. A first gap is between one end of the friction member and the supporting portion, and a second gap is between the one end of the friction member and the vibrating body.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 19, 2021
    Date of Patent: May 23, 2023
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Satoshi Tsuchiya, Satoru Kitajima
  • Patent number: 11652426
    Abstract: A composite motor having high-precision positioning, comprising: a housing (1), a rough positioning assembly, a hollow output shaft (2), a fine positioning assembly, a power switching apparatus and a controller (6). A stepper motor (3) in the rough positioning assembly is responsible for rough positioning of the composite motor, an annular travelling wave ultrasonic motor in the fine positioning assembly is responsible for tail end fine positioning of the composite motor, and the controller (6) implements power output switching between the annular travelling wave ultrasonic motor and the stepper motor (3). The composite motor effectively solves the problem that annular travelling wave ultrasonic motors which operate continuously for a long time have a short service life, and ensures high-precision positioning while also extending motor service life.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 2, 2020
    Date of Patent: May 16, 2023
    Assignee: NANTONG UNIVERSITY
    Inventors: Liang Hua, Ling Jiang, Juping Gu, Ping Lu, Yuxuan Ge, Yisheng Huang, Chunkai Yan, Wenbo Su
  • Patent number: 11646678
    Abstract: A control device for a vibration-type actuator includes a control unit including first and second output units. The first output unit includes a first learned model subjected to machine learning in such a way as to output a first control amount for causing the contact body to relatively move with respect to the vibrator. The second output unit includes a second learned model subjected to machine learning in such a way as to output a second control amount, which is data of the same data format as that of the first control amount. The control unit updates parameters of the first learned model and parameters of the second learned model based on a control deviation, which is a difference between the first control amount and the second control amount output within the same sampling period as that of the first control amount.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 25, 2021
    Date of Patent: May 9, 2023
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Jun Sumioka
  • Patent number: 11641704
    Abstract: A load control device coupled between an AC power source and an electrical load may operate in a three-wire mode or a two-wire mode based on whether the load control device is connected to a neutral side of the AC power source. The load control device may further comprise first and second zero-cross detect circuits to be respectively used in the two-wire mode or the three-wire mode, and a neutral wire detect circuit configured to generate a neutral-wire detect signal indicating whether the load control device is connected to the neutral side of the AC power source. A control circuit of the load control device may determine whether the load control device should operate in the two-wire mode or in the three-wire mode in response to the neutral-wire detect signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 22, 2021
    Date of Patent: May 2, 2023
    Assignee: Lutron Technology Company LLC
    Inventors: Mark A. Benning, Thomas W. Brenner, Quinn Brogan, Donald F. Hausman, Jr., Peter MacLellan, Matthew Kyle Olsen, Matthew Pennock